Defend the Library PatchCon
by Barasia
Summary: Touhou fanfic. Re-Write of Tasofro's epic PatchCon game. Marisa and Alice team up to attack the Magical Voile Library, Patchouli and Koakuma will defend it! Epic Doll War ensures.
1. Chapter 1 PatchCon

Defend the Library PatchCon

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

This is massive RTS game  
Dolls are at full speed production  
Please plan Strategy until army is ready  
War Machine is stolen! (see: Borrowed) Defend the Library!

Chapter 1 - PatchCon

* * *

The Scarlet Mansion. It sits on a large peninsula stretching out on the Scarlet Devil Lake. There is only one entrance, which is accessible by land via a long stretch of road on the peninsula.

The term "mansion" is accurate to a degree. From the outside, it looks very large,(yet it is much larger spatially inside), complimented by waterfront views and pine forest and mountain ranges in the horizon. It would be hot property for its spectacular views.  
A tall clock tower stands on the main quarters of the mansion, which reads 10 o'clock on the dial. Its architecture is of medieval French origin, colored tinted glass for its windows, arches and columns. The most distinctive feature is its color, for walls and roofs are painted in red paint. A structure so contrasting from the background, that's where its name originated. The Scarlet Mansion.

But the Scarlet Mansion will soon serve a different purpose soon. It was is a fortress. Strategically placed so there is only one point of access via land from the entrance, which can be easily defended. Surrounded by deep water of the lake, and tall walls surround the entire perimeter. Even observing towers at the corners of the perimeter can serve as battlements.

Soon, this fortress will be besieged. An epic war will last 12 hours. But this war is special in a way. All wars are usually driven by greed, and this is also driven by greed. The goal isn't some king's throne, or the mansion's gold. The goal will be…the Voile Magical Library.

And the war will be fought by soldiers of a very different nature.

* * *

The Voile Magical Library will put any library to shame. It is the largest library ever known in Gensokyo. An Amazon of books. Arrays of bookshelves tens of metres high stands like tall ancient trees in their thousands. A huge maze. Magical globes light float in midair illuminating the long and winding aisles like fireflies.

There are no signs or ordering/numbering system here. Everything is magically operated, making it the more advanced than any normal library system.

Every book is magically charmed, protected form the wear and tear of time, including the destructive effects of fires and water.  
The security feature consists of a magic charm that would alert the librarian if it isn't properly checked out before being taken out of the library.

However, unlike normal libraries, the Voile Magical Library isn't visited by Normal patrons, who civilly come to borrow and read books. In fact, it is usually empty. The only patron who frequently visits is a Lunatic witch who loves to "borrow" books with life long extensions. Much to the dismay of the librarian.

The said witch is stealthily sneaking through the aisles like a night cat. No more than 13 to 14 years of age in appearance, dressed in a black dress and a white buttoned vest, complete with a wide brimmed pointed witch's hat that covers her short golden hair. Beside her is her trusty witch's broom which is silently floating above the ground and a huge cloth sack almost full of books tied to the base of the broom. A make shift silent trolley.

Spotting a book near the top shelf, it's clearly too high to reach. She climbs onto her broom, and levitates up with the sack. Grabbing the book and muttering a spell, she de-activates the security charm and then tosses the book into the sack. She smugs with satisfaction.

Marisa Kirisame is her name, and when asked about her "Borrowing" habits, she replies with a grin; "You can collect them back from me 80 years from now when I die okay? You'll live much longer than me anywaysze". She used this excuse once when confronting the librarian. Indeed, the librarian will live longer than Marisa because the librarian is a Youkai. Youkai can naturally live for thousands of years, as they physically age very slowly.

"Hmm, where is Patchy today? Usually I would have been found out by now", Marisa muses as she de-activates yet another security charm.

Indeed, today is different because Marisa's sack is most full today this time. She should have been discovered by the librarian, Patchouli Knowledge.  
As the name suggests, Patchouli is very knowledgeable, since she spent most of her life locked up in the library and idles her time away by reading books. Patchouli only ever left the library a few times to solve a few crises that occasionally happen in Gensokyo.

For the next 80 years or so, Patchouli will also get to interact with a certain frequent customer; hence, her life isn't boring at all.

But today, out of routine, Patchouli isn't on the library grounds to discover Marisa.

While tempted to "borrow" more books and take full advantage of the situation and leave undetected, this turn of events piqued Marisa's curiosity. She was probably also uncomfortable with the lack of routine; (a.k.a. Confrontation).

"Maybe she finally realized that reading in dark places can make her eyes go bad", Marisa recalls a previous conversation a long time ago. "and decided of have some fresh air". _If fresh air meant air outside the library to her._

"Meh, I'll go see whats she doing now" Marisa sets out to find Patchouli outside of the library.

* * *

Inside a dark room, a single light globe shines a spotlight. A white glowing circle, hovers a few milimetres above the floor, with complex inscriptions and runes on the outer circumference, and a star pattern enclosed by the circle.

Nearby is a short girl, young in appearance, levitating a few centimeters above ground, with a distinctly purple outlook. Long flowing purple hair that falls to her knees. A purple night cap with a gold crescent moon emblem on it. A long and baggy purple nightgown with white stripes. Sleep deprived purple eyes. Very pale skin. Maybe it's because the librarian works 24/7 that she never bothers to change out of her PJs?

Despite the unusual appearance, Patchouli exhibits an aura of definite command and confidence like a Commander. Her voice is soft but projected with strength and clarity. Her height is even compensated by levitation which gives a false sense of height advantage.

Expert in the field of magic due to the long periods of study, it is foolish to take her lightly. Unless you were equally competent or greater in the ability of magic.

Behind Patchouli is another girl, with long red hair. A demon to be exact, because two black bat like wings protrude from her back. Her thin black dress show off her slim figure. Her name is Koakuma, the librarian's assistant.

"Did you get the materials Koakuma?" Patchouli asks without turning.

"Yes, my lady", Koakuma answers in a respectful tone. She holds a sack that bulges with heavy materials.

"Good, place them in the circle"

Koakuma sets down the bag and removes the contents. It was simply piles of medium sized cut logs, and bundles of old cloth, which she places in the centre of the hologram circle.

"Now, Koakuma, watch carefully what it does" Patchouli spreads her arms as she stands in front of the circle. In reaction, a hologram cylinder, consisting of various pictures lights up from the circle in front of her. Patchouli touches one of the small pictures, which magnifies, for Koakuma to see.

It is a face that Koakuma instantly recognizes. A girl in a green cheongsam, and beret long braided red hair, with Chinese facial features. It was the mansion's gate guard, Hong Meiling. Koakuma watches intently.

"You then simply state a number and level, for example; One unit, Level One"

In reaction, the magic circle glows intensely and a single pile of wood and bits of cloth start to levitate off the floor. Koakuma eye's widen as the wood shapes itself in loud creaking noises, as the wood itself breaks as if carved by an invisible knife. The cloth also tears and sews itself together around the wood taking is taking form of…..a doll. In a matter of second, a miniature doll of the gate guard was created, that stand up halfway to the knee. Every detail made the doll look almost lifelike, the red hair made of red string, even the green outfits matches the color of the gate guard's clothes. However, Kaokuma did notice a slight aspect. The head to body proportion seems larger…

"Wow, my lady, just Wow!" Koakuma squeals in awe and delight. "That was top notch craftsmanship!"

"Impressed?" smiled Patchouli. "But this is nothing, watch this"  
"Move there!" Patchouli suddenly barked out and pointed to a spot away form the circle.  
Kaokuma watch with fascination, as the doll suddenly came to life, replied with a familiar, but high pitched affirmation, and ran to the spot where Patchouli pointed.

"What the, they're automated dolls! There are no strings!" exclaimed Kaokuma.

"Indeed, but in truth, while the dolls are not controlled by physical strings, they can be controlled by the wielder of this magic circle." Patchouli pointed to the hologram circle. "This circle is the main communication and control system for these dolls. I've spent many nights trying to perfect the magical system with spells. A very complex piece of work."

"My lady, so this magic circle creates dolls automatically out of wood and cloth?"

"Yes, but they are not just dolls. You see I've programmed the magic circle to create a combat doll."

"Combat doll!?"

"Yes, the combat dolls have infused magical power and instructions to fight and obey the every command of the wielder of the magic circle."

"My lady, I remember a doll maker who came here once. Her dolls were completely hand crafted, but you just created a doll of detail and craftsmanship which rivals the doll maker, without doing any work at all!"

"No, that's wrong. I did spend many nights perfecting the automated carving process. Besides, I believe any automated production system, can out perform handcrafted production, through consistency, and time efficiency. It should be the future of mass production, don't you think so?"

"You do have a point. But miss Patchouli….why do we need combat dolls?"

Patchouli turns around to face her assistant, and says with a heavy sigh, "I'm implementing a new security system for the library and the mansion. There have been too many break ins lately. Remember the energy mists incident?"

"Oh yeah, it got pretty crowded in the library that time."

"A scenario I don't want repeated, so that's why I came up with this: more security forces. I've designed the magic circle to make these dolls tough and adaptable. Would you like a try to duel with one?"

"ah! I don't think…." Before Koakuma could finish her panicked sentence, Patchouli suddenly assumes a stance in front of the circle and barks an order.

"China! Attack!" yells Patchouli pointing at Kaokuma.

"But my lady! Attac-oow!?" she was cut off but a high pitched "HIYA!" as a sprinting doll leaps and makes a round house kick at her shin.

"Ow! Dammit! Stop it!"  
"HIYA!" another war cry from the doll.

"Defend yourself Koakuma!", Patchouli yells. "Destroy the doll!"

Koakuma tries to kick the doll, but the doll with lightning reflexes, leaps to the side, making her miss. The doll continues to give Koakuma a series annoying punch and kick combos at her legs.

"CEASE ATTACK" Patchouli yells and the doll stop attacking.

"Wow, phew, that doll sure had Meiling's kung fu skill" Koakuma says, huffing.

"That was just a low level doll, but I'm sure it caught you by surprise is all?"

"Yeah, it did" Koakuma replied with a blush of embarrassment, rubbing at the sore spot on her legs.

"Anyway, I'll leave this manual with you. Study it because there's a lot more to it than what I showed you. I must return to the library to check on things. Who knows whether that thief snuck in or not? She may there this very instant like a kid in a candy store with no adults"

As Patchouli heads for the exit, Koakuma says "My lady, don't you think we should give it a name?"

"Give what a name?"

"The automated doll maker, it should have a name. Perhaps named after you…"

Patchouli puts a hand to her chin and mutters to herself "yes, it should….Patchouli's Doll Conjurer….no too long, Patchouli's Doll Controlling and Command System. That's too long either….."

"PatchCon!" Koakuma exclaims .

Patchouli considers the name for a moment, then smiles "That's a good name Koakuma. PatchCon it will be."

* * *

As Patchouli exits the room and heads for the library, a figure emerges from a corner.

"Combat Dolls, eh……" Marisa whispers, and stalks silently to the room where PatchCon is kept. A sinister smile on her lips.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2 Thief!

Defend the Library - PatchCon

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 2 - Thief!

* * *

So eager to learn all about PatchCon, Koakuma is too absorbed in her reading to notice a figure silently slip through the entrance doors. Instead she continues to read aloud to herself.

"During creation, the doll can be infused with any amount of magic to enhance its abilities and qualities. A stronger doll would require more complex magic, and take more time for the system to infuse the magic. Hence the Level system allows for the option to choose the level of versatility of the Combat Doll."

"Every doll is integrated with a basic memory that stores any predetermined…_personality_?" a faded half erased word is barely made out by Kaokuma. She mentally noted to ask Patchouli about it later.  
"…And abilities such as moving or flying. The doll is in constant telepathic contact with the system, hence any new instructions, strategies, priorities and team tactics can be uploaded to the doll instantly."

"Through the system, the user is in telepathic communication and can control a doll or groups of dolls remotely simply by projecting their will power via the system. No visual contact with the doll is required as they command interface will show their location on screen…."

Koakuma pauses as she hears a faint snickering in the room. She isn't alone.

"Who's there!" she yells into the darkness, dropping the manual.

"Geez, you're a bookworm just like Patchy, always so lost in the books, but at least Patchy doesn't read out loud." A familiar voice taunts her from the corner of the room.

"Show yourself!", _oh dear, please not let it be her, please…._

"Don't be so tense demon girl, its just me", the stranger steps out the darkness into the light revealing the identity that Kaokuma dreaded.

She is alone with the black-white witch.

"You! Thief!"

"Oh? You shouldn't label people so quickly on first sight, its prejudice." Marisa waves a finger at Kaokuma.

"Really? Then what's that sack you're holding? Its books from the library isn't it!?" Koakuma shoots back at Marisa.

"Anywayze, I was looking for Patchy, have you seen her? And what's that glowing circle behind you?" Marisa simply shrugs off the question.

"That's none of your business black-white, drop those stolen books at once and leave, or else!...or else…." Koakuma sweatdrops. _Or else what?_ She had seen Marisa duel with Patchouli before, and she knows she has no chance of victory with Marisa's overwhelming explosive magic. She will have to stall her enough for Patchouli to return.

"…Or Else What **_hmm_**!?" Marisa echoes Koakuma's thoughts. Marisa suddenly seems quite enthusiastic, finishing off her _hmm_ in a loud, intensive and threatening manner.

_Uh oh_…..Thought Koakuma.

Then, an idea came her.

_Time for field testing_, thought Koakuma, and she runs for PatchCon.

"Hah!" Marisa laughs, mistaking her move for a retreat. "That's right! There's no way you can match me in a duel!"

Koakuma stands in front of PatchCon assuming the stance Patchouli took the hologram circle lights up in response. The doll nearby straightens in attention. Marisa, who's unsure of the turn of events, becomes a bit cautious and ready for any sudden movement.

"China! Destroy her!" Koakuma yells.

"China? But she's still outside the gate….Ow!"

The attack came from behind, catching Marisa off guard. The Combat Doll had managed to sprint and jump ten times its height to slam into the back of Marisa's head. While it wasn't enough to knock her out, but it hurts as if a small stone has been thrown at her.

"What the! I didn't know-Ouch!" the doll lands a kick at Marisa's shin, "you could manipulate dolls!"

Marisa makes a kick for the doll, but just like Koakuma, she misses. Koakuma seeing the opportunity, she wills the doll to attack the other leg. The doll grabs Marisa's other foot, and pulls with all its might, making Marisa fall.

"Hah! Patchouli's magic is much more intricate than yours black white!" Koakuma savors the victory.

"Oh? You seriously underestimate me…."

Out of the corner, a broom swoops by and Marisa grabs on and jumps on. The doll tries to catch Marisa but Marisa already levitates high enough out of reach of the doll.

_Crap…didn't think about that_, thought Koakuma.

Then, Koakuma catches sight of Marisa taking a palm sized octagonal object out of her pocket. It was the Hakkero. An Eight Trigrams Energy Reactor. She had seen Marisa used it in combat, a devastating weapon for its size, capable of firing huge lasers that will cut right trough stone.

"China! Evasive Maneuvers!"

Marisa pauses and looks at Kaokuma with an amused smile.

"Tsk Tsk, I already learned to shoot down the doll master instead of the dollze"  
Marisa says and aims the Hakkero at Kaokuma's chest.

Panic washes over Koakuma as she realizes her mistake, and puts her arms in front over herself in reflex and tries to scream, as a blinding light and horrid, wrathful sound and the odor of ozone fills the entire room.

ZHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

* * *

"That's strange. I thought there was a book in this spot just now", Patchouli mutters. She arrived in the library and notices a missing book on the shelf.

Then she notices that more books are missing too. Which meant only one thing.

Marisa was here.

Suddenly, a she hears a familiar noise. Coming from the room where she left Kaokuma. She heard that dreadful, ominous boom many times before. It is the sound of high powered lasers ionizing the air and creating a thunderous effect.

"Oh no! Kaokuma!", yells Patchouli, and quickly makes her way back.

* * *

Koakuma screams.

"AAAAAIIIIIIiiiiiiiii…." It is a high pitch squeal of pain and death.

_Wait…..my voice isn't that high pitched. Or has fear changed my voice?_

Koakuma opens her eyes which she had shut in reflex to the light. She is still alive, but terribly shaken. In front of her, is the Combat Doll lying on the floor. The entire front is smothering black and smoke still rising. The doll had taken the full brunt of the laser, and saved Koakuma's life.  
_The scream which was so life like, belonged to the doll. Koakuma never scream at all._

However, before Koakuma could revive from shock, Marisa accelerates with lightning speed at Koakuma. The last thing Koakuma sees is the bushy end of a broom before blacking out.

* * *

Patchouli reaches the room, to find Kaokuma on the ground unconscious. The combat doll was burnt out of commission. And PatchCon and the Manuals is no where to be found.

* * *

Other residents of the Mansion had also heard the laser, and are making their way to the source to investigate.  
A tall slim girl, with long braided glazing silver hair and silver eyes, dressed in a French Maid's clothing was making her way there now. Dressed in a blue short dress that ends half way between her thighs, showing off most of her legs, and a white apron cap. There is a sharp throwing knife in a holster tied around her thigh.

She is Sakuya Izayoi, the Head Maid of the Scarlet Mansion.  
As she was about to turn into a hallway, when black speeding object almost slams into her like a rushing mad bull.

Quickly side stepping the missile, she identifies the object as the familiar black-white on her magic broom, with a large sack tied to the base of the broom.

_That must be her loot. I must retrieve it!_

Sakuya Izayoi is known throughout Gensokyo for her outstanding knife throwing skills. She takes out her knife and runs after Marisa. With the extra run-up speed, she throws with all her might and accuracy.

* * *

_Huh, wasn't that Sakuya the Maid?_ Thought Marisa. Everything was a blur when you flew THIS fast.

Marisa looks back behind her, and spots a glimmering object approaching fast. She levitates up a bit but not to her surprise, the knife seems to home in on her. Such is the skill of Sakuya Izayoi that her knives can home on her targets to a degree, and spin around corners.

But by experience, Marisa knows her knives can't turn tight corners, and there is but one exit in the narrow hallway that allows Marisa to make a tight escape.

Marisa banks right suddenly, and crashes through one of the tinted windows. The knife almost hits her, and manages to slice through the cloth of the sack, making the sack fall off.

"Tsk" Marisa looks behind to see her loot left behind. And decides it's too dangerous to face the Maid. For now.  
She takes off into the forest at full speed.

* * *

"Well, well, that's a first." Commented Sakuya, looking out the window at the retreating figure. "She didn't come back for the loot this time."

"The mistress will be happy that it isn't a loss for us this time" she says, picking up the sack of books.

"However….I'll have more work to do" she sighs, looking at the glass fragments littered all over the floor beside the broken window.

* * *

End chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3 Preparation

Defend the Library PatchCon

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 3 - Preparation

* * *

10.30 am.

Inside a large lounge room of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There is a royal and aristocrat feel to this room. Decorated with French designed furniture that belonged to the Reconnaissance era, stylish wooden framed armchairs, with lavish red cushions. A king sized thick red carpet laid out on the floor. The walls were also decorated with large oil paintings, of country side scenery, another of giant sail vessels at a harbor. Several crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, which had breathtaking realistic paintings of heavens of the clear night sky. The crystal chandeliers add a sparkle effect on the painting as well.

Lying on a sofa, this is the first sight Koakuma sees when she comes to. A head splitting headache is also what greets her and she moans in pain.

"Auu,….am I dead?"

"No you're not." It is Patchouli's voice. "you were knocked out for quite a while"

"Ah, Lady Patchouli!" Koakuma sits up. "The thief was there! I'm so sorry I couldn't stop her…my Lady, the black white had made off with a sack of books….I've let you down…." Koakuma hangs her head in shame and self pity.

"There's no need to worry Koakuma", a new voice comes from behind.

"Ah, Sakuya!" Koakuma greets Sakuya who had just entered the room, holding a tray with a glass.

"Mistress Remilia" Koakuma bows to the next person to enter the room. A short girl, whose appearance is no younger than age 10 with pale white skin.  
She wears a fancy pink dress that is reminiscence of old style ballroom, with a pink head cap and ribbon tied on it. She exhibits an aura of feminine elegance and confidence just like Sakuya, constant straight posture, and hands clasped behind her back. Her striking features are her blue short hair, deep crimson irises that would hypnotize any normal humans, and two leathery wings when expanded become twice her body length. She is the Mistress of the Scarlet household, the sole owner of the property and a powerful vampire. While Remilia is the mistress of the house, Patchouli is Remilia's personal tutor and long time friend, so basically, Patchouli and Remilia share equal power over the entire household. There is a rumor that Remilia might be related to the famous vampire Dracula, but Koakuma wouldn't believe rumors that have no evidence.

"Here drink this tonic; it will help you clear the headache." Sakuya hands the drink to Koakuma. "Thanks"

_Sakuya is the only human in the entire household. It's strange that a human serves a vampire, and she isn't sucked dry of blood yet._ Koakuma mentally muses.

"As I was saying, the sack of books that Marisa stole is retrieved" Sakuya continues her speech. "I encountered her when she tried to escape. I manage to get back the sack of books, but Marisa escaped" _No need to tell of the window that needed to be replaced._

"Indeed, Sakuya here is always the one to clean up." Remilia interjects "I've trained her well to be very reliable"

_That's true. Countless times Sakuya has fought with many intruders other than the black white. _Thought Koakuma. _I wish I could be as reliable as her, but all I did was let Lady Patchouli down…._

"Well, everything is okay now right Lady Patchouli? The books are retrieved and the thief failed. Patchouli?"

Patchouli doesn't seem impressed with the news, instead her face remains a serious and gloomy expression since Kaokuma came to.

"No. Things here just got a lot more…complicated" Patchouli sighs.

Everyone is silent, waiting for her explanation.

"PatchCon has been taken by Marisa, along with the Manuals."

Koakuma gasps in shock. Sakuya raises an eyebrow. Remilia looks more attentive now.

"Its just a matter of time now, with the Manual taken, Marisa will learn how to operate it by now, and she will use it against us soon."

"Pardon me Lady Patchouli, but what is PatchCon?" Sskuya asks "from the name, is it your invention?"

"Yes it is" Patchouli then briefly describes the purpose of PatchCon to Sakuya.

_Oh no, oh no, I failed big time. Not only I couldn't stand up to that meddling black white, it's my fault PatchCon is stolen. Now things are getting worse and it's all my fault!_ thought Koakuma.

"I'm so sorry Lady Patchouli!" Koakuma kneels and cries, "I've let you down. I've been defeated by the witch and it's my fault PatchCon was stolen. Now we have only ourselves to defend against Marisa and her weapon. I should have done better, please forgive me! Punish me if you must."

"Oh? I'm not mad at you Koakuma. I'm sure you've done your best, and right now, there's no time for punishment. What matters now is that we all focus on how to handle the imminent attack from Marisa."

"But as Koakuma said, PatchCon is in the hands of Marisa. Do you think we can handle an army of Combat dolls?" Sakuya says.

"We won't be doing the fighting…you see, I've kept plenty of documentation during the creation of PatchCon. I can still recreate it using the documents as reference. It will take an hour. If someone helps me, it will take half the time."

"So we're going to fight fire with fire!" Remilia exclaims.

"Yes. So this is what we must do. Remilia and I will recreate PatchCon. Koakuma and Sakuya will gather the materials for the production. There aren't enough firewood supplies in our stock, you will have to go to the forest and get more wood. Time is running out. Marisa may be already producing Combat Dolls as we speak. Let's move out!"

* * *

10.45am.

Just outside the Mansion's gate. Kaokuma, Sakuya and a team of fairy maids are carrying axes and hurtling carts out of the mansion. The fairy maids come in a huge variety of heights. Some are as small as little children; some are as tall and matured as a human teenager. However, it seems the scarlet household doesn't want to employ any fairies that are too matured as adults. Perhaps it is the fear that adult fairies can be stubborn and rebel against their masters. All however are required to wear matching Maid uniforms just like Sakuya's. Even Sakuya, the Head Maid who has total management of the fairy maid team has to wear the matching uniform, making it indistinguishable who is the servant and who is the master at first sight. The only clear Masters are Remilia and Patchouli.

"It encompasses an atmosphere of belonging and teamwork within a vide variety of teammates" Remilia says when first asked by Sakuya during her first day as a Maid in the Scarlet Mansion.

"Sakuya! Where are you guys going with all those axes and carts!" a voice calls out from the gate. It was the gate guard; Hong Meiling, dressed in a green cheongsam. Meiling is the only servant in the Mansion to be as tall as a grown adult human.

Kaokuma and Sakuya then explain the current predicament the Scarlet household is in.

"A massive invasion! By an army of dolls! And now you plan to fight back using your own army of dolls?!", Meiling exclaims in amused disbelief. "I thought I've seen strange things but it seems that every big event that happens in Gensokyo is getting _stranger and stranger_!"

"No, I'm serious China. Marisa has broken into the Mansion recently and stolen a powerful magical item from Patchouli…", Sakuya says in a more dreadful tone.

"Ah…if its Patchouli's invention, then it should be quite powerful…wait…it's in Marisa's hands now?!" _my names Hong Meiling you ignoramus!_

"Yes, its only a matter of time before something big happens….wait a minute!..."

Sakuya's expression just becomes more contemptful and eyes Hong Meiling.

"Your job as the gate guard….is to prevent intruders from entering the Mansion"

_Uh oh….i'm in **BIIGG** trouble this time…._

"With the evident infiltration, you clearly haven't been doing your job! Explain yourself!" Sakuya brandishes her knife and points to Meiling in a threatening manner.

Several fairy maids step back from the commotion in fear.  
Sakuya isn't the kind of person to take incompetence lightly, and her tough ways ensure all fairies under her management do their job with absolute efficiency and effectiveness. But sometimes her tough ways can push her subordinates too far until they break down crying.

"Ah…um..I was on guard all the time! I swear! I didn't see anything or anyone approach the front gates!" Meiling puts up her hands in reflex and panic. "Please forgive me! I really don't know how Marisa manage to get past me"

"Meiling, you were guarding the front gates the whole time? No breaks or recess what so ever?" Kaokuma asks.

"Yes! Yes! I swear!" Meiling keeps her eyes on the tip of the knife pointing at her

"Then it wouldn't be Meiling's fault. The black white would have found other ways to enter the mansion. I've always known the Black-White to never use the same routes of entry into the library, which is why it can be difficult to track or predict her sometimes. She could have flown over the lake and over the Mansion walls from behind the mansion, or even come from the sky approaching from the top! While Meiling is left to guard the front gate alone, the rest of the mansion is vulnerable to infiltration. That's why Patchouli came up with the idea of creating the Combat Doll for more added security." Kaokuma reasons with Sakuya.

Sakuya remains in deep thought absorbing what Kaokuma said. She then lowers her knife.  
"Yes I suppose you're right."

_PHEW. Close one._ thought Meiling.

"BUT, this doesn't atone for not doing your job to its fullest! You're going to help us haul these carts and chop the trees for wood!"

"Yes! I will!" _at least it's much better than her punishment….._Meiling thought

* * *

The fairy maids, Kaokuma, Sakuya and Meiling quickly set to chopping down the nearest trees. All of them are fast workers, and with in minutes an entire tree is reduced to piles of wood. Some fairy maids are already hauling carts of wood back and forth to the Mansion at full speed. Sakuya's presence was no doubt fueling their increased work speed. The fairy maids despite their size have a lot more strength than a strong man, and the fastest worker is surprisingly, Meiling.

Meiling is a Youkai, and has served Remilia for hundreds of years even before Kaokuma remembered being Patchouli's assistant.

Meiling's supernatural strength requiring just a few blows to the tree to bring it down, reminds her of the Combat Doll that just saved her life recently.  
Meiling is extremely skilled in martial arts, particularly in Tai Chi. She had watch Meiling practice Tai Chi before, and Meiling as a Youkai, effectively divert her Chi accordingly to deliver very powerful blows, and even conjure a ball of energy which she throws at targets.

The reason for Meiling being the faster worker of them could be her extraordinary physical abilities.

_Or it could just be wanting to atone for her incompetence and doing well in the presence of Sakuya? _Thought Kaokuma.

"Hey, Kaokuma, I want to thank you for saving my ass back there. I owe you one" Meiling whispers as she came over to help Kaokuma chop up a fallen log.

"No problem"

"Kaokuma, would you mind telling me about this PatchCon? It creates an army of dolls right?"

"Well, PatchCon seems to convert this wood we are cutting now, into a doll. In which is magically charmed act on orders from the user of PatchCon. I'm not too sure about how it EXACTLY works…"

"Have you seen a doll being created?"

"Oh, yes. It was this small" Kaokuma puts her palm to her shin to indicate the height, "and it was a doll of you Meiling"

"A doll of ME?" Meiling gasps, her eyes seem to shine. "Patchouli made a doll of me! Wow! Its must have been a pretty doll, with good kung fu skills like mine!"

Meiling sits down to pause her work to listen to Kaokuma.

"It was a very well made doll."

"Where is it now? I would like to see it."

"Uh….its in the trash now…"

"What? But I thought you said it was a good doll!"

"Kaokuma!, China! Get back to work! The enemy doesn't rest!" Sakuya barks and they both go back to chopping immediately.

"Well….I suppose it wasn't a good doll then" Meiling pouts as she continued chopping.

"No, it really was a good doll! It served its purpose very well" Kaokuma consols Meiling

"But then why was it thrown away?"

"It was destroyed by Marisa when she infiltrated the Mansion."

"Ah…that witch…" Meiling growls in discontent.

They continued to chop the log in silence and haul the wood into carts.  
Before Kaokuma started to haul the cart back to the mansion, she looks back at Meiling.

"Meiling, listen, I just want to thank you."

"Eh? What for?"

"You see, when I encountered the Black-White, I was almost shot down by her. But you…I mean, **the doll of you **jumped in front of the blast just in time, and saved my life. Even after I ordered it to retreat, it went to save my life. I wanted to thank it for such a heroic act, but it's dead now…..i guess you're the closest thing I can thank for. So thank you Meiling."

"Ahaha…", Meiling chuckled with a blush. "Patchouli sure did a good job then. The doll is just like me. In those circumstances, I would disobey direct orders to protect the well being of my masters. I may be incompetent, but I can at least make up for it by being loyal. After all, what am I without my masters?"

"Right…" Kaokuma says, before leaving. It was then Kaokuma understands why Meiling still remains as the door guard after all these hundreds of years. You simply can't find a Guardian with more loyalty. Meiling is actually a very reliable door guard and hence a very important member of the Scarlet Mansion. It's just that the infiltrator manage to out perform her…making her look very incompetent.

Kaokuma sighed, and thought, _if only I could be more reliable to my Lady Patchouli._

* * *

_End chapter 3_


	4. Chapter 4 Trumps

Defend the Library PatchCon

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 4 - Trumps

* * *

"Hickory dickory dock  
The clock struck twelve  
The rat ran up the clock  
Hickory dickory dock  
The clock struck twelve  
The rat ran down  
Hickory dickory dock"

A childish, hypnotic singing voice echoes through the library. The voice belongs to Remilia the vampire.

"Remi, would you stop that!, I'm trying to concentrate, now get me the paper on the table"  
Patchouli, who is frowning, is conjuring another PatchCon, concentrating her focus intensely at the hovering circle before her with both hands out stretch to the circle.

The outer circumference and a crude star imbedded within the circle had already been conjured but the intricate details of inscriptions of magic coding still needed to be infused. With Remilia helping Patchouli by getting past documentations from the shelves and tables, it saves Patchouli time having to manually look up information, and concentrate on the creation of PatchCon.

"Alright, alright, Patch, geez, you need to have more fun in your time you know" Remilia hands the paper in front of Patchouli to read so she doesn't have break the pace of work.

"Alright, Remi, you can leave the rest to me now" Patchouli says when she finishes reading the documentation.

"By the way, Remi, that song sounds familiar. But why are you singing it now. Don't you remember the situation we're in?"

Patchouli and Remilia are very old friends, having known each other for over a hundred years. When alone together, Patchouli would refer to Remilia with the diminutive "Remi", while Remilia calls Patchouli "Patch".

"How could I forget. Anyway, I just could not sleep last night, the full moon was out that night too, and hence my powers are at its maximum. You know how active I feel when that happens. So while sitting by the window to moon bathe, I told Sakuya to sing me a song to help me sleep. Now the song sticks to my head." Remilia takes a seat behind Patchouli to watch her work

"Hmm…that's nice." Patchouli says in a disinterested tone.

"You know, I haven't seen you around for the past week. Where have you been?"

"I was going out, to collect materials and do research for PatchCon"

"Ahh! So you finally went out! I knew you would take my advice and get some much needed exercise"

"My physical condition is fine the way it is, thank you," Patchouli replies, insulted "bodies don't go bad from the lack of exercise,…. they simply adapt to the circumstance that physical labour is no longer required."

"Of course…"Remilia simply shakes her head, nonplussed, which went unnoticed, as she is sitting behind Patchouli.

A pause.

"Patch, all that has happened so far reminds me of the siege back then."

"Ahh, you mean the Napoleonic Wars? You used to tell me about that."

Patchouli had very little documentation about human wars from outside Gensokyo. She only had stories and recounts from Remilia about the Napoleonic War, which took place before the Scarlet Mansion was transported to Gensokyo.

The Napoleonic Wars, as far as Patchouli could understand were a series of political unrest between an invasive race called the "French", and a group of races that collaborated together to become the "Allies" to defeat the "French." From Remilia's stories, the "French" was led by a legendary human called "Napoleon". Patchouli deduces that this is where the "Napoleonic Wars" got its name from.

Who was this Napoleon?, Patchouli wonders. Remilia described him as a brilliant strategist and decisive general. His downfall was from the insurmountable force of united armies from the "Allies".  
**_A united army defeated an army led by a brilliant strategist._** Patchouli summarizes.

"The castle was in siege many times. Once, it was a battle lasting for several hours, so that I couldn't sleep at all with all the noise, the screaming and shouts…" Remilia looks distant, as she closes her eyes and remembers a long distant past.

"I used watched the battle raged outside the castle from the clock tower with my telescope. You could see every thing from there. Oh! You could just see effect of a single command, that moved thousands of soldiers! A single command that herald a row of thunder from the cannons! I used to dream I could be the one to give that command, imagine how that would feel…"

Remilia then stares at the ceiling, reminiscing a glorious past victory. "You should have been there with me Patch. The battles were exhilarating. Hopefully you'll enjoy it in the coming siege."

"Coming siege eh? Hmph, you knew this was coming all along, you could have said something before this ever happened." Patchouli is referring to Remilia's uncanny ability to see fate. As a powerful vampire that is one of her abilities. But the extent of Remilia's powers over fate is still a mystery to Patchouli. "We could have prevented all this, Remi"

"Nothing can change fate Patch. What matters is how we receive it. I, for one will appreciate it. It has gotten pretty boring over the last few months with no activity. I'm starting to love my stay in Gensokyo. This place never fails to entertain me." Remilia says with a giddy smile.

"It depends, Remi. You wouldn't find it very entertaining if you lose, right?"

"No, I wouldn't find defeat entertaining …"

A long pause. Only a soft humming of the magic circle fills the room as Patchouli continues to make finishing touches to PatchCon.

"I'm sure the castle will hold this time." Patchouli reassures herself, "it is a strong castle, it has seen many battles and from what you've told me, it has always been victorious in the end"

Remilia takes in what Patchouli has said, and looks a bit upset. Unfortunately, Patchouli didn't see it because Remilia is behind her.

"Besides, what would the witch know of siege warfare? She's too young to know anything of invading a well protected castle. With PatchCon, and our army of dolls, the Scarlet Mansion will be impregnable!" Patchouli continues to banter.

"It also depends Patch…"

"What do you mean Remi?" Patchouli, this time pauses her work and turns around to face her friend. Somehow Remilia has lost her carefree mood earlier, and instead she looks serious.

"From my experience, every castle has its weakness. Humans are a very resourceful bunch. Marisa is also a very determined person. That combination of determination and resourcefulness will be her strength. Let us hope she doesn't find the castle's weakness."

"What are you saying Remi. Are you saying we'll lose? Have you seen our fate?"

"No, not at all. Honestly, I can't tell if we'll win at this stage. But this has nothing to do with fate. I am merely speaking out of experience. Our victory is not guaranteed. Right now, we will have to think carefully and critically. We will have to utilize our strengths as much as possible. We also have weaknesses and so does our opponent."

"What are our strengths beside our fortress then, Remi?"

"Numbers, Patch. Me, you, Sakuya, Koakuma, and China. If we work together closely as a team, we will sure have an edge in the battle."

"United we stand, divided we fall" Patchouli quotes a well known philosophy. "But I doubt we will have anything to worry about when it is 5 versus 1."

A pause.

"Perhaps that's true Patch. But we will also have to understand our opponent and predict our opponent's next move. Victory and defeat is usually defined by the ability of the chess player to read the signs of the opponent's next move. A small sized army can out maneuver a large army if you can predict the opponent's next move."

"Know thy enemy" Patchouli quotes again. "But, Remi, I do know Marisa. And I doubt she can win against ME in a battle of wits. She is very young, and I have much more experience and maturity than her. She will never match my intellect."

Remilia considers Patchouli's reasoning for moment before sighing. "You're right. What was I worrying about? Evidently we'll turn out fine."

"Of course we will", Patchouli reassures her confidently.

"Sorry if I seem to be hassling you Patch, it's just that…from past experiences, I've witness casualties from both sides of a war. War isn't like a chess game you know. There are always real casualties in a war. Lives are lost and broken, and- "

"That will not happen, Remi" Patchouli interrupts with conviction. "I'll make sure no member of the Scarlet Mansion will get hurt. That is my promise. We are using Dolls remember? There will be NO casualties."

"Losing dolls don't count as casualties?" Remilia asks incredulously.

"Of course not. They are simply dolls. Mass Produced Soldiers. These dolls have no families to mourn them, nor any children to leave behind. Their sole purpose is combat. Losing a doll won't count as a lost in life, because these dolls weren't built to live, Remi. That is my idea of a Perfect army!" Patchouli's eyes seem to shine she boasts of her invention.

"My, my, the nature of warfare sure has changed. You surprise me sometimes." Remilia chuckles.

Patchouli turns back to her work and continues with a scowl "Besides, we have no choice but to fight. Soon, we will be fighting another Perfect army."  
It would be matter of minutes now to the completion of PatchCon.

* * *

Patchouli slumps on her armchair in front of her working desk.

PatchCon was completed. The frantic work has been exhausting. Yet, there is no time for rest, for Patchouli immediately set down to work on another critical project.

Somehow, the conversation with Remilia earlier had been unsettling to Patchouli.

_Know thy enemy_, Patchouli remembers her own words.  
_That combination of determination and resourcefulness will be her strength._

"If I really know Marisa, then Marisa will realize her weakness in her lack of experience in siege warfare, especially using dolls. And she will do something about it. Therefore, _it is a weakness that cannot be guaranteed_." Patchouli muses.

It was time to have a backup plan.

In front of her are 5 blank paper cards.

"When the circumstance calls for it, my trump cards will be there." Patchouli says to herself as she sets down to create her "trump cards".

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5 Critical Alliances

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 5 - Critical Alliances

* * *

11.00am  
The Ancient Magic Forest. The very embodiment of wilderness, spanning hundreds of miles across the land. The Magic Forest had never been touched or defiled by the greedy human population for hundreds thousands of years. The saturated magic that permeates the land still remains preserved in isolation, thanks to the Great Hakurei Border that sealed Gensokyo hundreds of years ago.  
Was it to protect the land from the greedy human population that has already defiled many lands outside the border?

There is immense magical energy permeating the forest, bringing chance creations of magical beings called the Youkai. Many of these Youkai are animal like, and feed on the animals that live in the forest. They are on the top of the food chain here. Some Youkai has even tried to hunt humans, and discovered that human flesh was much more delicious than the common beast found in the forest. The resident human populations which congregate in the Human Village, detest the Youkai and work together to fend off Youkai attacks.  
The combination of "hard-to-get" with the irresistible taste of human flesh makes humans a high priced catch for a Youkai.

The Magic Forest is a "no-mans-land" to the resident human population, and the humans fear to wander into the Forest in fear of the wild Youkai.

The only people who would dare to live in the Magic Forest are either outcasts or lunatics.

* * *

Deep in the secluded heart of the forest, there is a clearing of land with a modest European style house, with an observation tower that stands up to just above the trees, granting the resident a solitude and serene view for reflection.  
A girl wearing a simple blue dress and white frilled collar is sitting in the observation tower. She has short blonde hair, with a red hair band, and blue eyes.  
Clearly a foreigner who came from another world, like the Scarlet Mansion residents.

The girl has a small doll on her lap, dressed in a red dress and a red ribbon tied on top of its angel-fine blonde hair. Taking a small brush from the adjacent table, she combs the doll's hair and enjoys the solitude of the Forest with her doll.

"There you go Shanghai" the girl smiles at the doll "your hair is free of tangles, and you're as pretty as ever"

"Thank you, Alice" Shanghai replies to her master in a cute voice.

Alice Margatroid, is also a magician like Patchouli and Marisa. However, she mainly excels in the art of hand crafting dolls and controlling them magically. She spends most of her time simply hand-crafting new dolls or repairing old ones.  
The doll, Shanghai is one of Alice's finest creations. There are no strings attached to the doll, and no ventriloquists to speak for the doll. It was the closest thing to Alice's dream for creating a completely Independent doll.

However, Shanghai isn't entirely Independent. It could not move or speak without its master's control. While the physical strings of manipulation are removed, in truth, magical strings that are not seen, replace them instead. This creates the illusion of an actual sentient being that lives with Alice. It would fool any normal human, except for those who has known her for many years.

Her peace and quiet with her doll is rudely interrupted by a loud voice outside calling her name and banging on her door.

"Alice! Alice! Open up! I have something to show you!"

"Oh, no" Alice, with a frown, walks over to the railings of the tower and looks down. It was Marisa Kirisame, her neighbor. Alice had known Marisa since she was very young, and Marisa is the only person who would frequently visit her. hence, Marisa is the only "friend" of Alice in Gensokyo.

"What do you want Marisa. I'm not in the mood to entertain guests right now." Alice yells at Marisa, hoping she'd leave as soon as possible.

"You never feel like entertaining guest anyway. Besides, I brought the entertainment instead!"

"I'm not interested. Now leave me alone!" Alice yells back and turns back.

Alice is regarded as eccentric by those who know her, because she prefers to spend more time with her dolls instead of socializing.

"Geez, one's a total shut in, the other is a total shut out." Marisa complains to herself.

"I heard that!"

_Oops._ Marisa bites her lip.

"Anyway, please let me show you this! You'll find it more interesting than playing with your dolls." Marisa begs.

"Why would I find it more interesting than my dolls?"

"Because there's nothing more interesting than playing with a new doll!"

That caught Alice's attention. She reappears at the railings with Shanghai on her shoulder. "A new doll?"

"Yeah! This!" Marisa takes out a palm sized doll form her pocket. It was a doll of Alice Margatroid. Not a doll that simply looked like her, but a doll that seemed to be made in every resemblance in every aspect to her.

"Woah! THAT is a well made doll…." Alice eyes widen as she sees the doll "wait a minute, are you sure you didn't just take it off my rack?"  
_I have made many other dolls in my lifetime, but I don't remember making a doll of my self…_

"Alice!" Shanghai points to the doll, "its Alice!"

"No, I didn't steal it from you Alice, I'm telling the truth" Marisa tries to sound as sincere as possible.

_It's doubtful, but I'll believe her this time._ Thought Alice.

"Well Marisa, I'm impressed. But I doubt this is more fun than my Shanghai. Right Shanghai? Now, since you've got a doll of me, why don't you just go play with it instead."

"Alice! Look! It's Alice!" Shanghai continues to point at the doll and confirming the identity of the doll.

"Hey! Don't be like that! I've got more to show you."

"Oh? Prove it then. What else can you make it do? Dance around? Try to vocalize a voice for it? I'm sure I can do much better than you." Alice confidently spoke in a smug tone.

"Perhaps you can, but I bet you will never expect it to do this. Now THIS will wipe that smile off your face" Marisa grins and places the doll standing on the ground. "Alice! Fire at that tree!"

The doll seems to come to life, and raises its arms at the tree Marisa pointed to. A globe of light materializes on the doll's hands and the doll fires the globe at the tree, leaving a small burnt mark.

"Well, Alice?" Marisa still grinning turns back to her friend, only to find a very shocked face.

Alice's eyes have widened so much that her irises seem like tiny dots from Marisa's point of view. Her jaw hangs down as if the hinge of her jaw bone had just broken.  
Alice stands there with her shocked expression frozen.

"Uh…Alice?" Marisa says, trying to hold back laughter "Are….you okay?"

Shanghai, then goes to close the jaw for Alice, and points to the doll exclaiming "Alice! It's Alice!"

It is too much for Marisa then, so she falls down laughing "Ahahaha! See! I knew it would wipe the smile off your face!"

* * *

Inside the residence of Alice Margatroid, hundreds of dolls of every variety are placed on shelves.  
Marisa and Alice are seating apposite to each other in Alice's lounge room.  
On the table, the doll of Alice is placed there, and Shanghai stands in front of the doll. They are almost of the same height.

"Alice!" Shanghai greets the doll.

"No, Shanghai, that's not Alice, I'm Alice" Alice says to Shanghai.

"But you are Alice!" Shanghai holds up the doll's hands.

"No, that is just a doll Shanghai. I'm the real Alice."

"Alice is a doll!" Shanghai points to the doll.

"No! I mean, yes, it's a doll, but I'm not a doll. I'm real, that isn't real"

"Alice isn't real!" Shanghai concluded.

Marisa simply laughs at the scene before her. "See? I said I would bring entertainment!"

"To you it is. Maybe this is why I never made a doll of myself." Alice scowls at Marisa, clearly displeased. However, the doll had piqued her interest.

"Where did you get that doll from anyway? I've never seen anything like it."

"You may not believe it Alice, but Patchouli made this doll. She made a doll making machine."

"A doll making machine!" Alice exclaims. When she sees Marisa grinning like an idiot, she looks at her suspiciously. "And you stole the machine eh?"

"Yep, and now I plan to use it to create dolls to invade the Scarlet Mansion!"

"But why did you come to me? What does this have to do with me?"

"Because, I want you to join me!"

A long silence fills the room. Alice looks at Marisa in disbelief.

"Sorry Marisa, I don't share your obsession with collecting books. I can simply go to the library and borrow them properly anyway. I don't see the point of possessing so many books. I'm not a book worm after all."

"What! How could you turn down my offer!" Marisa yells. "Don't be such a doll-worm!"

"I'm not interested in the books, Marisa, so you've wasted your time trying to persuade me. Unlike that phenomenon with the fake moon, I had cause to join your quest. But this is all about your petty book collecting fetish, and I have absolutely no reason to join you, and that's final!" Alice yells and crosses her arms.

Marisa becomes silent. But she wasn't going to give up yet. There remains one last try to persuade Alice.

"I'm sure you would find cause to join me. Don't you know what this implies?" Marisa points to the doll of Alice.

"What?"

"There is someone trying to imitate your trade! A blatant challenge to your craftsmanship! With the doll making machine, it could put you out of business!"

Marisa struck a chord with Alice. Alice looks concerned with the new insight Marisa had just given her.

"I heard….from Patchouli that she believes that her doll making machine will out perform your doll craftsmanship. She will create a doll army that will rival even your doll collection. Would you really just let this go? Join me, and show them who the real doll master is." Marisa extends out her hand to Alice.

Alice considers Marisa's proposition with a troubled mind. Doll making had been a large part of her life. She had never imagined that someone would rival her doll making trade. But to challenge her, with a machine no less! Is there no honor from her rival? Alice would accept a rival who made dolls using the same traditional methods. But to using a machine to produce dolls is an insult to her craftsmanship.

_I will not tolerate this!_  
Alice takes up Marisa's hand. "Very well Marisa…I'll join you. No one ever challenges my skill as a doll maker, and gets away with it!"

Marisa laughs sinisterly "Of course! With our combined efforts, we'll topple the Scarlet household! We begin the raid at noon!"

* * *

End Chapter 5

Please Read and Review!


	6. Chapter 6 Raid at Noon

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 6 - Raid at Noon.

* * *

11.50 am. In the courtyard of the Scarlet Mansion, just outside of the main entrance of the Scarlet building. Patchouli and Koakuma are standing in front of a newly constructed PatchCon. There are some piles of wood beside them freshly delivered from the fairy maids.

"What?! I'm going to take command?!" Koakuma asks in disbelief.  
"Yes, while I focus on creating more combat dolls, I've ordered the created dolls to follow your every command" Patchouli gestures to a large formation of dolls beside them. "Here, is the first batch of comabt dolls. I've upgraded their abilities a few levels, hence they are more versatile than normal."

Roughly 70 dolls of Hong Meilings and 30 dolls of Sakuyas stand in grid formation, making a total force of 100.

"Wow…that's a lot of dolls to control" Koakuma sweatdrops. She only managed to control ONE doll earlier, and now the sudden responsibility over 100 dolls was a bit overwhelming. "Lady Patchouli, I'm not sure I can handle such a large force"

"Don't be afraid. You already know the basics of controlling a doll, and to control a large force, you simply have to regard a number as a single unit. As a result, they will also respond as a single unit. My flawless programming should make this quite easy for you. You don't need to dwell on the details of their actions, because they will simply act on their inst-"  
Patchouli pauses for a moment, before correcting herself, "They will act on their preprogrammed strategies and instructions"

Koakuma inspects the large force beside her, "well, I do know the abilities of Hong Meiling and Sakuya…but I'm not so sure about other dolls"

"Which is precisely why I will let you handle these dolls for now. But let me explain, that while there certainly a huge variety of dolls, they all fall into 3 main categories."

"Okay," Koakuma listens with rapt attention.

"The 3 categories are Melee, Danmaku and Flying. The most basic ability a doll should have is Movement. All Melee dolls are integrated with the ability to move, and nothing else, hence they are the easiest and fastest to create. Danmaku, the ability to conjure energy and fire as projectiles, come after Movement. Danmaku dolls are dolls given Movement and Danmaku, hence this extra magic involved will require more time during the process of creation. Flying is another complex ability requiring more complex magic and more time."

"So…we only have Melee and Danmaku units? No flying units?"

"For now. We need to create some dolls as a security measurement. I'll focus on creating flying dolls next."

"So, Flying units are stronger than Danmaku units, and Danmaku units are stronger than Melee units right?"

A pause. Koakuma looks concerned as if she had just said something wrong.

"…no, not necessarily."

"Why?"

"You see, I've programmed melee dolls to be quite skilled in their Movement hence melee skills, but the magic that could have been used to upgrade their abilities to Danmaku, is used to strengthen their constitution. This makes them considerably more tougher than a Danmaku unit of 'equal level'. Hence, a Melee doll is generally stronger than a Danmaku doll due to its resistance to attacks and refined movement…unless the Danmaku doll can keep its distance"

"Ah! And Flying units are much, much weaker as all the magic is used to develop its abilities instead of its constitution! But I suppose the ability to fly gives a superb advantage over Melee since Melee dolls can't fly."

"Precisely Koakuma! That is why I can entrust the command to you. You can learn very quickly making you the best candidate in a situation like this."

Instead of feeling proud and inspired by Patchouli's words, Koakuma still feels a bit overwhelmed by the sudden big responsibility.

"I need some time…."

"There's no time!" a loud panicked voice calls from a window to them. It was Remilia, holding a long telescope.  
"I was in the clock tower to observe Sakuya and the Maids work. I spotted a large force of dolls heading their way!"

"Oh no!" Koakuma exclaims in panic. _Things are just happening so quickly, I can't gather my thoughts!_

Patchouli who remained calm calls back to Remilia, "Did you see how large the force was?"

"I estimate around 500!"

_500! That's 5 to 1! Not good odds. _Thought Koakuma.

"Did you see any flying or floating units?"

"No, none of them seem to be flying. I can't indentify the units, they are too far away."

Patchouli turns back to Koakuma "Okay, Koakuma, Sakuya will definitely need your help now! Take the troops with you and make haste! I'll send more reinforcements soon, so just hang on! GO NOW!"

"Yes, my Lady!"  
"Meiling! Sakuya!" Koakuma yells, and in response, the entire regiment of Dolls turns to face Koakuma in unison like clockwork.  
"Follow me!" Koakuma runs to the gate with the dolls following close behind in single file formation.

"Good luck Koakuma" Patchouli says as an after thought.

It was 12.00pm noon.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the site where the Maids are busy cutting down trees, the atmosphere has become tense. The fairy maids are becoming on edge, as if they can sense a foreboding presence from the forest, but cannot see it.  
Some fairy maids pause their work as they start to hear faint noises that didn't belong from the forest.

"Geez, what is it now?!" Sakuya yells at the maids "Patchouli need as much wood as soon as possible, so don't stop!"

"But, Ma'am! Something is coming! We can feel it! The forest is getting restless" a frightened, timid maid replies.

"There is no such thing-" Sakuya's dismissal is interrupted by a sudden squawking of birds. Large flocks of birds flee from the forest, taking off into the sky overhead of them, their squawking of fear drowning out Sakuya's voice.

Sakuya, Meiling and the maids look up at the scene in astonishment. Most of the maids become worried, and they all looked in fear in the direction of the forest, anticipating.

"Something's coming this way", Meiling whispers.

"Maids! Hold your ground!" Sakuya, who is ever stoic, barks out an order, and any of the maids who had the thought of fleeing, were glued to the ground in their conditioning of obeying orders.

Sakuya takes out a knife from her pocket, and Meiling readies her axe.

Suddenly, a black figure on a broom stick bursts out of the dense growth of forest. It was Marisa.

"Ho, ho! What do we have here? Are the Maid Brigade and Gate Guard so incompetent that they are decommissioned as lumberjacks?" Marisa jeers as she regards the group in front of her.

"Watch your mouth Black-White! We could all easily defeat you as you are outnumbered!" Meiling shoots back at Marisa.

"Oh really? At least you saved me the trouble of breaking into the mansion. I'll KO you all right here!"  
"Hah! You and what army?!" Sakuya yells back.

A pause. Marisa looks amused and replies confidently "Me and my Combat Doll army of course! Attack!" Marisa points at them.

_Doll Army! _

"Maids! Battle stance!" Sakuya barks, and in that instant, swarms of dolls burst out the growth, with a battle cry "NYA!!" catching the maids by surprise.

_I recognize this one!_ Thought Sakuya. _It's the nekomata Chen! _  
Small dolls of a cat-like figure, with dual tails, dressed in a green hat and red dress. She is known for her direct claw attacks, but is generally weak compared to the skills of Sakuya. But a swarm of Chens is a new challenge.

The dolls reach the maids within a second.  
Those who register Sakuya's command react better to the sudden blitz attack.  
However, those who didn't aren't so lucky. The dolls quickly set to slash their claws on skin, and most of them aim for the face, to strike a fatal attack on the eyes.  
Screams of pain from some maids are heard.

Sakuya uses her knives to cut any doll that approaches, and Meiling swings two of her axes with brutal efficiency, hacking away at the dolls, as if the axes are as light as feather.

"Good idea China!" Sakuya comments. "Maids! Use the axes!" Sakuya gives a command while cutting another approaching doll in half. Soon, the maids arm themselves with the axes and defend themselves well.  
But, the danger is still imminent.

ZHHAAAAAAAA!!

An air splitting crackle of thunder racks through the air, followed by a scream of pain from a maid who was shot by a laser in the leg. Marisa had just fired her Hakkero at the maid too busy hacking to dodge the laser. Other maids nearby rush to assist their fallen comrade.

_Damn! While the maids are occupied with the dolls, Marisa is free to shoot us down! I must stop her!_ Thought Sakuya. She throws a knife at Marisa before another laser is shot.

Marisa spots the knife and aborts her attack, taking off into the sky to dodge the knife.

"Tch, I don't have to waste my energy on you small fry." Marisa says flying off into the sky. "Ran! Open Fire!"

Suddenly, loud popping bangs came from the forest, followed by a volley of green energy bolts.

"Take Cover!" Sakuya screams, and ducks behind a tree stump as green energy bolts riddle Sakuya's cover with scorch marks.

Marisa's first Danmaku shooters has arrived. Peeping over her cover, she spots 50 dolls in line formation. They were fox-like dolls, with nine tails. It was Ran, the fox Youkai.

* * *

Koakuma is halfway upon reaching the site when she sees a green aura in the distance. With closer inspection, she sees her friends being pinned down with raining green bolts.

_They've started fighting! I must hurry!_ Thought Koakuma, and runs faster, with her doll army keeping the pace.

* * *

Please Read and Review!

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

please review for the author's motivation!!


	7. Chapter 7 Doll Battle No1

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 7 - Doll Battle No. 1

"Sakuya! What do we do?! I can't get to them!" Meiling yells as she ducks behind a tree stump. Similarly, all the maids took cover behind trees and tree stumps which they had chop down.

The maids struggle to fight with the Chens while taking cover. The situation was getting dire, as moving away from cover to fight the Melee Chens in open space will expose to the burning green bullets. Trying to attack the Danmaku shooters was out of the question, as they are too far away.

Sakuya is the exception. Leaping out of her cover, she throws multiple knives at the line of Rans, before diving to cover again.

_Damn it. We're getting worn down. This cannot go on for longer…I will have no choice._ thought Sakuya, as she sees a nearby fairy overwhelmed by a swarm of Chens.

"Sakuya! We can't hold much longer" Meiling yells over the loud noise of bullet fire and increasing screams of pain.

"We'll do it the usual way then!" Sakuya replies.

Standing up, Sakuya draws a card from her pocket, and declares;

"Illusion Sign, KILLING DOLL!!"

In an instant, an impossible number of knives seem to appear around Sakuya, and is launched towards every doll in the vicinity. The maids having seen this spellcard attack before, duck with hands over their heads, and staying absolutely still as a multitude of knives fly all around. Knives violently tear into the dolls, instantly pinning them into the ground and trees. The dolls let out high pitched squeals before becoming still. The battle is over within a few seconds.

"How appropriate….Killing Dolls….." Sakuya mentions to herself in amusement.

An eerie silence follows, as all sounds of Danmaku fire and fighting stop. Only a few moans of pains from injured maids lingers.

"Ah…is it over?" Meiling asks cautiously steps out of her cover. All of the maids also peeks out, seemly relieved that the fight is over.

"Hah! Still alive I see!" Marisa calls from high above on her broom. "But don't rest yet maid girls, there's more!"

Once again, to the shock of the group, an even larger number of 100 Chens bursts out of the forest growth, followed by denser volleys of green bullets.

"Dammit! I can't use another spellcard or I'll exhaust myself too quickly!" Sakuya exclaims as she ducks back into cover.

The maids scramble back to cover as more green bullets fly over their heads. The battle resumes and declines into a more desperate situation.

"There's too many of them Sakuya! We should retreat!" Meiling yells

"We can't! Getting out of cover will get us shot!"

"We cannot stay here! We will be overrun!" a maid frantically yells.

"Ma'am! I see another large force approaching from behind us!" another maid yells.

"Oh no! We're surrounded! We're doomed!" the situation became worse as the morale of the maids spirals down the drains, as the approaching Chens got closer and closer.

* * *

"Huh? Whats that?" Marisa takes her eyes off the battle to see a force of about 100 dolls heading from behind the group. The force being led a small black figure she recognizes as the librarian's assistant.

"Dolls….no way!"

Koakuma's heavy cavalry has just arrived in the nick of time.

* * *

"CHARGE!" A familiar voice yells, followed by a deafening high pitched roar that sounded as if a hundred people were screaming.

"Its Koakuma! The dolls are on our side! We're saved!" Meiling exclaims.

A large swarm of Hong Meiling Dolls race down towards the area, and engage the oncoming Chens right in the middle where the maids took refuge.  
Next came a small wave of Sakuya dolls, and soon, the air was filled with miniature knives.  
The Chens are not as heavily armored the Meiling dolls. Nor they are as brutal. The Meiling Dolls in their large numbers and with their superior strength easily tear the Chens apart in close combat. Any retreating dolls are shot down by Sakuya Dolls.

Morale sky rocketed, and the maids rush out of their cover and charge head first, eagerly hacking away into the thin line of Rans. With the threat of Chens neutralized, the maids, combined with the fresh reinforcements, greatly outnumber the remaining enemies.

As the last enemy doll was broken apart, the maids cheered their rare victory against the Black White.

"Sorry guys, I tried my best to get here as soon as possible. Was anyone hurt?" Koakuma says with exhausted huffs from her long run to Sakuya and Meiling who are watching the new doll army with curiosity.

"A few injured, but otherwise, no casualties. All thanks to you" Sakuya replies "Amazing. They can use time magic and shoot knives just like me!"

"Yes, they sure look just like you guys, and have very similar abilities"

"But, how did Patchouli give these dolls the ability of time manipulation? I thought such abilities were unique to me…"

"I have no idea." Koakuma confesses.

"Uwaa! They're really cute!" Meiling squeals as she is instantly absorbed by the miniature dolls of herself, and grabs one to inspect it. "they're really just like me!"

"Strange….." Koakuma mentions aloud.

"What is it?" Sakuya says.

"I thought there would be much more dolls…"

_Indeed, the fallen enemy dolls only add up to approximately 200. Where is the rest of them?_ thought Koakuma.

"Wait, you mean, there are more dolls!" Sakuya exclaims in alarm.

Her fears are realized, as the sounds of distant marching in the forest are heard.  
The maids stop her celebrating. Meiling also finally notices that another tiring battle is imminent. The forest ground trembles as an approaching army nears, but out of sight.

"Yes….much more…" Koakuma replies solemnly.

"My God, it sounds like there's a few hundred of them!" the maids mutter in concern.

* * *

Please Read and Review!

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

Please review for the author's motivation!!


	8. Chapter 8 Puppeteers

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 8 - Puppeteers

* * *

The sounds of uniform marching gets closer and louder. Each step never out of beat, in its intimidating, monotonous rhythm. Then they emerge out of the forest.

A huge crowd of dolls, dressed in blue, with blonde hair. Sakuya, Meiling and Koakuma recognizes them as the "Puppeteer", known as Alice Margatroid. Crowding around each Alice is a team of 4 to 5 smaller dolls, dressed in simple blue dress. Some are armed with sharp lances in their hands, while some seems unarmed, but Koakuma suspects they can shoot Danmaku.  
The entire mass of dolls are intimidating and numerous, but Koakuma estimates the total number to be around 300.

_So that's the rest of them…but 300 is still larger number than small force of 100,_ thought Koakuma.

"Oh my god. We're outnumbered BIG time" Meiling commented.

The maids step back in fear as the Alice Doll army march on towards them, but Koakuma's army stand in defiance.  
The Alice army halts their advance as a distant voice behind them yells "Halt!"  
Marisa flies from the forest, hovering above the crowd of Alice, to greet her adversaries.

"What the hell is this!" an outraged voice howls from Marisa. "How come you have a doll army too?!"

"Patchouli simply made another PatchCon! You won't win against us Marisa. We already have an army as well and we will defend the mansion. You have no hope of ever entering uninvited again, so just go home!" Koakuma yells back.

"Oh ho ho, this isn't over yet. This is only the beginning! You won't stop me that easily. You've done well to defeat the first few waves, but let's see you handle something much bigger now!" Marisa spits back spitefully.

"Prepare to be crushed! Alice! Open fire!"

The Alice army holds out their arms, and soon the air was saturated with energy bullets with brilliant colors.

"Everyone, take cover!" Koakuma yells, and the rest of the team dive for cover. Meiling and Sakuya dolls crowd behind tree stumps, due to their small size, several were able to fit behind. Sakuya, Koakuma and Meiling makes a mad dash for a nearby fallen tree, that offer better protection than the short tree stumps.

Sakuya tries to throw a few knives over head, but it was pointless. There are simply too many of them and using another spellcard will take out a huge strain on her.  
Even with the Sakuya dolls returning fire, Koakuma's army's current firepower isn't enough significantly.  
"Koakuma, we must retreat! We cannot approach them as they are too many of them!" Sakuya suggests over the loud bangs of bullets colliding on their log cover.

"We cannot, Sakuya! We are still in firing range, running out of cover will get us all shot down!" Koakuma replies.

* * *

Patchouli and Remilia observes the battle from the distance. Even from the Mansion, it can be seen that the opponent's army greatly outnumbers Koakuma's team.  
Bright flashes of colorful lights signify they have already started fighting.

Patchouli takes out a brown card, and aims it at them, preparing to cast a magic spell over Koakuma's army, hopeful that it will turn the tables in the battle. A brown aura builds up and surrounds Patchouli as she declares "Earth Sign-"

However, a voice breaks her concentration.

"Stop Patchy! Not yet!" Remilia calls out to Patchouli from a window above.

"What are you saying Remi?! Can't you see they are severely outnumbered?"

"It is too early to use your trump card…just have faith in your own assistant"

"…yes…Koakuma can handle herself" Patchouli reluctantly puts down the spell card.

* * *

Meanwhile, the situation at the battle is looking helpless. Completely pinned down, the maids dare not get out of their cover in fear of the curtains of fire that is unleashed.

"Any ideas?" Koakuma asks.

"I still say we retreat" Sakuya reaffirms her plan.

"We're close enough to them! If we rush ahead, we probably can take them out if we are fast enough!" Meiling suggests as she peeks over to mentally calculate the distance to the Alice army. "It would take perhaps 10 strides to reach them," Meiling reports.

"You're crazy China! You won't last a second out there!" Sakuya argues back.

"A few burns can't take me down easily, I can do this!" Meiling replies in a defensive tone.

Koakuma considers Meiling's plan, and recalls a previous dialogue.  
**_A Melee doll is generally stronger than a Danmaku doll due to its resistance to attacks and refined movement…unless the Danmaku doll can keep its distance._**

I already learned to shoot down the doll master instead of the dollze

_It's possible, and if I pull this off, Patchouli will so proud of me! Everyone will be proud of me!_  
"Yes, that plan will work." Koakuma says finally.

"What?! That's suicidal! The maids won't do such an outrageous thing even if I order them too."

"The maids won't take part in this. Meiling and the dolls will. Meiling, when I give the signal, charge behind our dolls at the army ahead, and do your worst!"

"Roger!" Meiling replies and readies two axes in her hands.

"Meilings! Regroup!"

All of the dolls of the door guard rush out of their cover to regroup at a spot in front of the tree Koakuma, Sakuya and Meiling are hiding behind.  
Several dolls fell from the shots, but within a second, they all crowd in a large mass.

"Charge! Now Meiling! Go!"

The entire mass rush towards the Alice army, with Hong Meiling dashing out of cover, holding axes in each hand, staying behind the mass of dolls. The shots from Alice and her dolls, took out some Meiling dolls, but due to their strong constitution the huge compact mass maintains its bulk.

Like a bull dozer, the mass plough through the front lines and deep into the middle.

"Now! Disperse!" Koakuma yells

Like a huge explosion, the mass of Meiing dolls break up and attack from within. Hong Meiling is now in the middle of the fray, and starts hacking brutally.

"Meiling! Aim for the doll master!" Koakuma yells at them.

"Good idea Koakuma!" Hong Meiling replies, and cleaves an Alice doll in half. The smaller dolls surrounding the Alice doll, collapses as if their strings were non existent.

Soon, the Alice army starts to scatter and break up. Meiling dolls, with their new order, focus their attacks on the puppeteer, and the numbers of Alice dolls rapidly decline. The Alice dolls are inefficient without concentrated fire, and the Meiling easily withstand or dodge the shots at close range.

The maids, observing the enemy's army reduced to just less than a hundred in a span of ten seconds, run out of their cover with enthusiastic war cries, flanking the retreating and divided Alice.

The Scarlet Mansion team is victorious.

"Victory!" Meiling pumps up her fist, and the other maids join in the cheering.

"I count around 20 Meiling dolls lost. That leaves 50 left, and our Sakuya dolls are still intact. That's pretty good performance don't you think?" Koakuma mentions proudly.

_Patchouli will be so happy to hear about this._

Sakuya simply stares at the scene in numb disbelief.

"Don't look so surprised Sakuya. Meiling isn't that bad after all. This proves she is a very good soldier."

However, Sakuya is more surprised, not of the revelation of Meiling's competence, but of Koakuma's professionalism in the battle.

* * *

"Damn it!" Marisa curse to herself. She is getting exceedingly frustrated over her consecutive defeats. Her entire first batch of dolls had been thwarted.

"Damn it all! Where are the reinforcements she promised me!?"

Marisa turns around, and spots her reinforcements arriving in the distance.  
_They may have arrived too late, but my new force will win this time._

* * *

Back at the Mansion, Patchouli observes the flashes of lights dieing down.  
_The battle is over…but who won? _Thought Patchouli nervously.

"You probably won't believe me Patch, but that girl pulled it off." An astonished Remilia calls out to Patchouli, as she sees their door guard through the spy glass doing a victory dance.

Patchouli let out a long breath in relief.

"Wait…" Remilia says as she spots something in the telescope.

"What is it Remi?"

"Another force is coming, this time, traveling at high speeds."

"Can you see what they are?"

"Yes…2 swarms of red dolls are heading their way…..the closest swarm is flying towards them and may reach them very soon while the farther swarm may reach them in about 15 minutes."

"Red dolls…" _This is not good. There are only a few types of red dolls I know and most of them are all pretty strong. Wait…._  
"Remi, did you just say they were flying?"

"Yes, the closest group is flying towards them, but the group farthest to them is traveling on the ground. They are quite a distance from Koakuma, but they seem to be traveling at high speed."

"How many are they?" Patchouli asks in a concerned tone.

"I estimate the flying swarm to be around 30….oh wait, I can see a bit clearly now….they are not exactly red……they are red and….white…." Remilia mutters in dread.

"Red and White!" Patcouli exclaims in alarm.  
There is only one type of doll with distinct appearance as that, and if her suspicions are true, Koakuma's army is grave danger.

Patchouli calls out a nearby maid who remain in the mansion.  
"Go to Koakuma, and tell her I gave this order. **Retreat to the mansion at once!** Go, quickly!"

"Yes my Lady" the maid replies and runs with full speed to deliver the message.

* * *

Please Read and Review!

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

Please review for the author's motivation!!

* * *


	9. Chapter 9 Miko's Judgement

* * *

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Please Read and Review!

Chapter 9 - Miko's Judgement.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest where the battle took place, a faint, subtle, low humming is gradually increasing in intensity.

"Hey do you hear that?" a maid asks.

"Yeah, it's coming from the sky" another maid says.

Soon, the entire Scarlet team notices the sound and look up searching for the source.

"Perhaps it's just another flock of birds…" Meiling comments.

"Wha? Flock of birds?" Koakuma sweatdrops. "How could a flock of birds sound like this?"

A small swarm of 30 red specks appear over the forest, flying in a V shaped formation over them.

"See? A flock of…birds?" Meiling squints her eyes to look up. It was difficult to clearly see them with the sun in her eyes. The maids and Sakuya are also staring up.

The "birds" suddenly break their formation, and became a glowing intense red and dives directly downwards at them. The humming increases in pitch, into horrid screeching.

"_**These…these are not birds**_" Koakuma stutter in horror.

* * *

The "birds" much clearly visible now as they descend rapidly, are dolls. Dressed in red, with unique white sleeves unattached to the dressed, holding a stick with white flowing paper tied to it. It is the Shrine Maiden Reimu, probably the most well known person in the entire Gensokyo. Also, the most feared, for the Shrine Maiden has defeated countless strong opponents single handedly, including Koakuma's masters, Patchouli and Remilia.

A powerful fleet of flying dolls is what they are not prepared for.

And they are definitely not ready for what happens next.

* * *

Suddenly, the sky above them darkens as microscopic dark specks appear. Then more and more dark speck appear into a huge swarm, that descends downwards rapidly.

Koakuma didn't want to find out what this is, and yells "Everyone! SCATTER!"

The rest of the team ran in all directions, away from the trajectory of the falling specks. The specks finally reach ground, as _thousands and thousands of small needles_.

"OWWWWWWWWWW!" screams of pain echoes through the forest, from numerous maids.

"OH SHIT IT BURNS!" Koakuma screams in pain. She had put her arm over her head to protect herself, and 3 needles as tiny as splinters had imbedded itself into her arm. The needles, while it was not fatal, it induces severe pain as if fire was burning in the veins. Koakuma quickly reaches to pull out the needles from her arm, but further induced more pain in the removal process.

However, as soon as the needle was removed, the pain ended, leaving a strange numbing effect.

Looking around, Koakuma sees that every had made a mad dash away hence avoiding the majority of needles, but the needles in the fringes had struck everyone to varying degrees.

All except one Sakuya, who appears unscratched. Thanks to her manipulation of time, Sakuya went well out of range from needles.

"Is everyone okay?!" Sakuya yells.

Only moans of pain are the answer. The maids start to pull out needles from hands and hair. The dolls didn't seem to moan in pain, but they move slowly, as parts of their bodies struck by the needle seem to be less functioning.

The attack was not over however, as the doll swarm pull up from their descending trajectory, and circle around individually, looking for targets. Each starts to fire a single stream of needles.

"Everyone! Evasive Maneuvers!" Koakuma yells when she sees the flying Reimus open fire.

They've caught us out in the open! It's too late to get into the forest for cover!

* * *

It is total chaos there after. One sided skirmishes takes place throughout the area.

Screams of agony and pain fill the air. While the maids try to hide behind tree stumps or logs, a Reimu doll would be behind them and start firing at their exposed backs.

Every one was frantically circling around tree stumps and logs to stay out of line of fire, but while the flying Reimus keeps circling randomly, it was exceedingly difficult to stay protected.

Each maid is getting struck by needles as fast as they can painfully pull them out of their skin. The maids and Meiling dolls can only dodge and take cover for now, since they are helpless against the airborne Reimus. The Meiling dolls have more success in dodging due to their small size.

"Dammit! It's like destructive acupuncture!" Meiling yells as she pulls out several needles with a mild grimace. She doesn't seem too affected by the pain.

"Its Reimu's Persuasion Needle! It attacks the nerves!" Sakuya yells. She throws a knife at the back of a flying Reimu. To her surprise, the doll dodges to the side, the knife just missing by a centimeter. The doll spins around and returns fire, to which Sakuya ducks behind a tree stump for cover.

Dammit! Even in doll form, she's hard to hit.

Similiarly, the Sakuya dolls are counter attacking, with little success, but they are also doing very well in dodging Reimu's needle fire by taking cover.

"Meiling! Quick! Roll that log over here! We will need all the cover we can get!" Koakuma yells.

"Roger!" Meiling grabs a nearby fallen tree and rolls it towards the other tree where Koakuma is taking cover. With two trees closely beside each other, it offers protection from both sides. Meiling then ducks between the trees just in time, just as a line of needles stick imbedded into the edges of the logs.

Several maids nearby sees the better protection that was set up by Meiling and promptly dashes towards it.

One of the maids fall, screaming in pain, as a stream of needles riddle her legs.

"Help! Help! Auuu my leg!" the maid cries.

Her comrades approaches to help her but another stream of needles nearly missing their toes discourages them, and they turn back and dive into the space between the logs.

The downed maid looks up in terror, as a Reimu doll hovers just above her. A red aura builds up around the doll, and when the doll stretches her hands towards the maid, a small red-white sphere, in the shape of a ying-yang ball materializes, and is launched at the immobilized maid. Its red trail accompanied by a loud screeching noise that got louder and louder as it approaches the maid.

"HELP ME!!" the maid cries in tears and covers her face with her hands.

A flash of light, then a loud bang follows.

BOOM!

The maid looks up in surprise, to see a cloud of smoke, and find herself still alive.

"Hey! Hurry up! Get your ass out of there! I've got you covered!" Sakuya yells nearby. She had just thown a knife, intercepting the explosive ying-yang ball. The Reimu doll now engages Sakuya, and the maid takes the opportunity to limp over to the logs.

* * *

Koakuma peeks over the logs to analyze the situation.

"They're using the needles to immobilize their target. It seems that they can fire needles at a rapid rate, so they're using it as a primary weapon, before using those lethal ying-yang balls against a helpless target." Koakuma reports.

She sees one of the Meiling dolls, with numerous needles all over itself stagger slowly. A loud screeching sound came from above, and a high speed ying-yang ball came falling at it like a meteorite. The doll sees the threat and attempts to run, futile as the needles seem to have slowed its movement. After a bright flash of light and a loud bang, the doll is nowhere to be found nearby, only a burnt patch of ground remains.

Was I imagining things? Or did I just see the doll have a look of terror on her face before being hit by the ying-yang ball?

Koakuma feels a dull pain in her heart, seeing the doll brutally destroyed like that, and could only stare in numb disbelief at the burnt patch of ground.

"Such power…" Koakuma mutters.

But another screeching noise dangerously near snaps her out of her state of shock. Looking up, she spots a rapidly descending red trail. A ying-yang is launched at them.

"We have incoming! Duck!" Koakuma yells, and Meiling, a few maids and Koakuma scamble to lie on the ground covering their heads. The ying yang ball struck the log with great force and a deafening bang, rocking the ground, and blowing a good chunk of the top part of the log where Koakuma peeked out earlier. A slight ringing resonate through Koakuma's ears.

"Koakuma, are you alright?" Sakuya appears beside the logs, to engage the Reimu doll who fired the ying-yang ball. More exchange of needles and knives.

"Yes! We're fine!" Koakuma sees Sakuya grimacing in pain. A few needles has struck her, but she still seems to be the one less harmed.

However, Sakuya looks exhausted.

"Listen Koakuma! I'm telling the maids to make their way here! I can't keep running here and there to keep them safe! You better come up with a plan! We're getting more injured the longer this goes on!" Sakuya yells over the noise of high pitched screeching and distant screams of pain, before vanishing from her time manipulation.

Indeed, all the maids suffer an injury to a varying degree. Some are bleeding from the explosions of ying-yang balls, while some lucky ones only suffered numerous needles.

* * *

"Its hopeless isn't it?" Meiling sighs, defeated. "We're trapped."

The maids that had made it to the logs also share the same looks of defeat.

"No, we still have a chance! We can't give up yet!" Koakuma declares. "I'll bring us all back! I promise!" I was sent here by Patchouli to save my friends, and I won't fail!

Koakuma then peeks out again to scan the field.

The Sakuya dolls seem to be doing well, and no losses are apparent. Then, Koakuma observes that the Reimu dolls seem to be just randomly circling and picking targets. All of them are loosely distributed throughout the air space, allowing plenty of room to dodge Sakuya's knives.

There is actually no co-ordination in their choice of attacks. It was simply a loose strategy of spot-and-shoot. 

"I have an idea! Sakuya you hear?! I need you here for a second!"

"Yes?" Sakuya instantly appears beside them. She appears much more exhausted than before and is panting heavily.

"Alright everyone, I have a plan. The Reimu's seem competent in dodging, but if we can get them congregated, together, and a use our Sakuya dolls to fire in a more dense Danmaku, then we can take them down!"

"How do we make them crowd around? They are just flying around like flies!" Meiling asks.

"Everyone except the Sakuya dolls will have to move as a single unit and retreat. If I'm correct, the Reimu dolls will pursue in a closer formation, and I'll set up a trap to bring them down."

"Wait! Are you saying we have to go out THERE!? No way!" a battle worn maid points to the grim scene around them, a battle field of numerous needles sticking out of the ground and the area littered with small craters of burnt ground. Distant screams and high pitch screeching of falling ying yang balls continues.

"I don't want to be used as bait!" another maid complains.

"HEY! LISTEN TO HER!" Sakuya snaps, and the rebelling maids quiet down.

"The only reason why we've survived the past few waves is because of Koakuma! The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it will become! If we are to get out of here in one piece, we must work as a team!"

Thank you Sakuya. Koakuma thought silently.

The maids are silent, and some nod in agreement that they owe their lives to Koakuma's quick thinking.

"Well, if there's any comfort, I can order all the Meilings to act as your shields, agreed?" Koakuma suggests.

The maids nod in agreement, but Hong Meiling protests "Hey!"

"Don't worry China, the dolls can't really feel the pain" Sakuya says.

"I meant me."

"Oh"

"Alright. This is what we have to do…" says Koakuma as she uses her finger to draw the outline of her plan on the dirt ground.

Where are our reinforcements anyway? Thought Koakuma.

* * *

Marisa watches the scene from above while sitting on her broom. Her mood had improved seeing the battle turn to her favor.

It seems that most of them are taking refuge in those two fallen trees.

Maybe I should end this right now!

She aims her Hakkerro at the trees, and takes out a spell card, preparing to fire a deadly blast.

Suddenly, a large number of maids, dash from the cover of the trees, and from the surrounding area, retreat towards the scarlet mansion.

"Hah! Retreating?" Marisa laughs, putting her spell card back into her pocket.

"This will be entertaining! Reimus! Pursue them!"

* * *

"They are after us!" a maid screams.

The Reimus are on hot pursuit and continue to fire needles, right at the fleeing maid's heels.

Several Meiling dolls keep pace behind the maids, and took shots instead of the maids. Hong Meiling opting not to be used as a shield and keeps well ahead of the needle fire.

"Run! We're almost there!" Sakuya yells, who is ahead of the group.

In front of them is another fallen tree, their destination and cover.

* * *

"Almost there." Koakuma mutters, crouching behind a log. With her new order, the Sakuya dolls are in position. It seems that all of the Reimu's are pursuing the bait, just as predicted.

Sakuya and the maids pass by, and when the swarm of Reimus came near, Koakuma springs her trap.

"Now! Fire at will!"

Sakuya dolls emerge from their cover behind surrounding tree stumps, encircling the mass of Reimus. They fire knives at all angles, cornering the Reimus into a tight space.

Closely trapped, one by one, a Reimu doll is struck by a knife, and falls down below, shattering to pieces upon impact.

It wasn't before long, that all Reimus are defeated.

Once again, the Scarlet team emerges victorious, and they all cheer their well earned victory.

* * *

"Patch! Did you just see what I just saw?!" Remilia exclaims with excitement.

"Yes…." Patchouli watches at the scene with wide unbelieving eyes and an open mouth.

"That was the most fantastic turning of the tides I've ever seen!" Remilia exclaims again.

"Indeed, that was most impressive…" Patchouli let out another long breath which she had been holding throughout the entire battle.

"Uh –oh"

"Oh no….what is it again?" Patchouli moans.

"Looks like the second swarm is about to arrive…" Remilia observes through her telescope.

"Come on! Retreat already!" yells Patchouli at the general direction of Koakuma, despite knowing she can't hear it.

"The maid we sent earlier is also arriving" Remilia reports "let's hope they obey and retreat immediately."

* * *

End Chapter 9

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

Please review for the author's motivation!!


	10. Chapter 10 Not a Casualty

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Please Read and Review!

Chapter 10 - Not a Casualty

* * *

About 1.30pm

Numbness.  
And a huge headache.

That is what Koakuma is feeling.

Too much has happened over such a short period of time.

The events that happened haven't fully been absorbed into her mind yet, and hundreds of thoughts and questions fill her head with turmoil.

Somehow, she didn't feel like cheering with the group. Something in her mind is bothering her conscience.

But what?

Was it something that happened in the battle?  
Was it the overwhelming pace of the battle?  
Was it the weight of her first major victory?

Not being able to put a finger on the answer, she now slips away from the group, intending to be alone and calm her thoughts.

As she walks away, she finally notices something odd in her perception.  
All the sounds around seem so unnaturally dim. Even the sounds of cheering from the group seem so far away.

It was then Koakuma did notice a slight, faint ringing in her ears. What frightened her was she could also distant faint sounds of screaming, explosions, and screeching. A particular tiny sound of moan of pain seems to stand out of all of them.

**_Wasn't it already over? Why do these sounds linger?_**

Koakuma starts to shiver, and continues to walk away.

Soon, in her mindless wander, she finds herself in the middle of it all.

The aftermath.

In her vision, she starts to see the scene in a new light.  
Compared to what she saw during the heated battle, the aftermath offers a new perspective.

During the battle, Koakuma was too focused on the safety of her friends, and thinking of strategies as the battle progresses. Furthermore, she was only allowed limited glimpses of her surroundings.

Now that the threat was over, the full impact of the battle fills her vision.

Hundreds of "dead" dolls litter the ground.  
Numerous dark burnt patches on the ground and on tree stumps, still smoking.  
Thousands knives and needles imbed the ground, sticking out in such dense quantities, as if they had replaced the grass itself.  
She can also spot some red patches of dried blood here and there.

"Wow…" Koakuma mutters.

_Did I do all that? _Koakuma thought to herself in disbelief and overwhelm.

A faint moan of pain echoes through the spent battlefield.  
Koakuma is about to dismiss it as another of her illusions, but when the moan repeated itself with frightful clarity, Koakuma knew it was real.

**_That moan I heard! It wasn't in my mind after all! I really did hear it! And it's somewhere in the field!_**Thought Koakuma.

Koakuma starts to search the area. Drowning out all other sounds, she focuses on the source of the moan. As she gets closer, the moan seems to increase in desperateness, and Koakuma hurries her search.

Finally, Koakuma finds the source.

It is one of the Meiling dolls. The entire bottom half is blown away, and one of the arms is missing. Its face is showing an unbearable look of pain and a moan of torment follows. It looks as if it cannot hold on much longer.

Koakuma kneels down and cradles the dying doll in her hands, wondering what to do.  
As Koakuma and the doll exchange looks, the doll gives a last defeated sigh, and is silent.

"Oh no…" Koakuma covers her mouth with a hand, and starts to choke back her tears.

"Its just a doll. Its just a doll. Its just a doll." Koakuma repeatedly mutters in shaking breaths.  
_I can't be seen crying over a doll like this!_

"Koakuma!" A voice yells from behind. It is Meiling, running towards Koakuma.

Koakuma takes a deep breath and shuts out the image of the doll.

"Yes Meiling?"

"I haven't noticed it earlier, but you're bleeding!"

"What?!" Koakuma exclaims "Where?!"

"Just hold still, it looks like you hit the back of your head on something. It's kinda hard to tell instantly that there's blood at the back of your head because the color of your hair is a bit red." Meiling says as she rips a portion on her dress, and starts to bandage Koakuma's head to stop the bleeding. As the bandage tightens, the pressure makes Koakuma wince in pain.

_So that's where the headache came from…_Thought Koakuma.

A short distance away, Sakuya is also helping the maids bandage themselves of various cuts and wounds.

"Hey Koakuma?" Meiling asks, looking intensely into Koakuma's eyes

"Uh….yes?" Koakuma asks feeling uneasy.

"Were you crying?"

"Uh…no! I wasn't!..."

Koakuma's embarrassment is saved however, when a scream of rage comes from the forest.

"NOOOOOO!!" Marisa appears out of the forest's growth, howling in rage.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! HOW COULD YOU HAVE WON!"

Sakuya who hears the commotion, appears beside Koakuma in an instant.

"This goes to show your efforts are all for naught! You better think twice before trying to infiltrate the mansion, you thief!" Sakuya yells.

"Hah! If you really think you can discourage me that easily, then you're mistaken! As I said, this is just the beginning!! You merely bought yourself some time!! You will never stop me!!"

"Yes we will! Patchouli will have the Mansion's defenses set up, and you will never infiltrate that easily again. Even with a doll army of your own! How can you think you can win, if you already lost this battle?" Koakuma taunts.

Marisa becomes silent. However, her look becomes more contemptful….perhaps even bloodthirsty.

Sakuya reaches into her pocket for a spellcard for caution.

"…Who ever said the battle was over?" Marisa says silently this time.

Then, a roar of bloodlust and rage came from the forest.

Another wave of Marisa's army is about to approach.

* * *

"Koakuma!"

The maid from the mansion approaches.

Stopping in front of Koakuma, the maid pauses to catch her breath. Her face and clothes is drenched in sweat.

"Lady …pant…Patchouli…has ordered pant you to retreat….to the mansion immediately" the maid delivers the message in exhausted breaths.

"Retreat? But we have won every battle so far…" Meiling comments. "I think we can win again!" Meiling says confidently.

Koakuma looks at her small army of dolls, which had gathered themselves in formation.

Doing a quick estimate headcount she says "No, I don't think we can sustain another battle. We're left with 20 Sakuya dolls, and only around 30 Meiling dolls left. We're reduced to about half the original size of our force. We should retreat now."

The roar of rage from the forest seem to get louder, the incoming wave is getting near.

It is time to make a run for it.

"Alright! Meiling! Get to that cart over there! All injured maids, get on now! Those who can still run, make your way to the mansion immediately!" Sakuya snaps into action.

Koakuma quickly gathers her army, and starts to run towards the mansion.

"Oh great…now I have to run all the way back…" the maid from the mansion mutters.

"Nah, you can get on if you want" Meiling says, "With the cart, I can handle a lot of weight."

The cart is piled with cut wood from the maid's work. Apparently, Sakuya doesn't want their work to be for naught. The injured maids jump onto the cart, and Meiling starts to pull. Her strength proves useful, as Meiling manages to pull the entire load of a few fairies and piles of wood at a brisk speed, keeping pace with Koakuma, Sakuya and the rest of the fleeing maids.

* * *

Then, Marisa's army arrives.

Bursting out of the forest, screaming with fury, a berserk swarm of dolls rushes after them.

Sakuya turns around to take a look. The dolls are dressed in red-blue vest, with red ponytails, wielding a long lethal scythe.  
She recognizes them as the shinigami, the ferrywoman that transports spirits of the deceased to the next world.

_Its Komachi…why do I have a bad feeling about this?_ Sakuya thought.

* * *

"Hmph….running away I see. Then the victory is mine!" Marisa yells after them, as she also rushes after them on her broom.

"Run! Run as fast as you can! For Death is right behind you!"

The chase is on.

_There doesn't seem to be any more reinforcements arriving. Just what is Alice up to?_Marisa thought silently.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! They're gaining on us!" A maid on the cart yells as she looks back.

"What? How could they have covered that distance so fast!!" Koakuma yells.

Everyone is running as quickly as possible, but the distance between the group and the Komachi dolls seem to shrink unnaturally.

"Everyone! Head for the mansion! I'll hold them off!" Sakuya suddenly turns around and runs in the opposite direction. Meiling and the other maids continue to run like hell.

"What? No! Sakuya, don't!" Koakuma yells back at her but keeps running.

"I have to buy some time for you guys. Trust me, you cannot outrun this opponent!"

"Sakuya! Just run! Don't be such an idiot! You can't handle the whole swarm by yourself!" Koakuma slows down, yelling back at Sakuya.

Sakuya simply smiles, "Hey, I'm the only one who can afford to pay for your time. You can pay me back later by getting the hell out of here!"

Before Koakuma can protest further, Sakuya vanishes, using her time manipulation.  
Cursing to herself, Koakuma proceeds to retreat back to the mansion.

* * *

_That is some impressive magic you've got there Patchouli. Just how can you make a doll have the ability to manipulate distances? And manipulate time as well like me?_

The Komachi army, seeing Sakuya appear in front of them, raises their scythes and screams their war cry with bloodlust, intent on shredding Sakuya to pieces.

_But I believe there is no substitute for the real thing…_

"Go to Hell, Komachi" Sakuya mutters, taking out a spellcard.

"Illusion Sign Killing Doll!!"

In that instant, hundreds of knives appear, pointed at the army, and is launched at them.

To Sakuya's surprise, this did not obliterate the swarm. The majority of the Komachis use their scythes to deflect the knives away; some manage to dodge the knives. Those that got hit by knives did not fall, but simply stagger and continued moving.

"Looks like this is harder than I th-" Sakuya stops in mid-sentence as the swarm suddenly closes the distance in an instant.

* * *

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

Please review for the author's motivation!!


	11. Chapter 11 Sacrificial Casualty

Defend the Library PatchCon

Written by Barasia.

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Please Read and Review!

Chapter 11 Sacrificial Casualty

* * *

Soon, Meiling who is hauling the cart of wood and injured maids arrive at the gate.

"What happened?!" Patchouli approaches and demands of Meiling "Where's Koakuma…and where's Sakuya!?"

"Sakuya tried to stall the incoming wave, and…I thought Koakuma was right behind us…" Meiling says with a timid huff.  
She looks behind, and didn't find Koakuma anywhere.

"Dammit! They should have obeyed orders and just retreat! Trying to act like heroes will just get them killed!" Patchouli stands at the gate, and she can see a cloud of dust in the distance, a battle is taking place, but the cloud hides what ever is going on within it.

"Should I go back there to help them?" Meiling asks.

"No! Stay here. We can only hope they return…" Patchouli says in a dreadful tone.

"Remilia! What can you see?!" Patchouli calls out.

Remilia is at a window with her telescope and trying her best to spot any distinguishable activity in the cloud of dust.

"Koakuma and her dolls seem to be approaching the cloud. I can't see Sakuya or what kind of dolls she's fighting with so much dust flying out there." Remilia calls down to Patchouli.

* * *

Koakuma runs towards the cloud of dust. Her small army following closely behind.

"Hang on Sakuya! I'm coming!"

"Argh!" Sakuya cries in pain as she endures another cut.

She is surrounded.

Trapped.

Her dress is torn in many places, and soaked red from many cuts and slashes. There are cuts on her face, her arms, legs, and body all around.

The Komachi swarm is encircling her, sprinting at high speeds, kicking up dust from the dirt road everywhere. This makes Sakuya very confused, as she cannot keep track of all of them at once. They appear simply as moving blurs among the dense cloud of dust.

While Sakuya tries to defend herself in her front, there would be other Komachis taking the opportunity to attack her vulnerable exposed back.

Every second that pass, a Komachi would strike her like a snake would strike from a distance and recoil back. They would jump in, slash, and get out, continuing to encircle.  
Sakuya tries to defend each attack, but it is impossible to defend against simultaneous attacks.

Then, in a critical split second, she hears a distant voice belonging to Marisa.

"Now! Attack!"

All the Komachis suddenly closes in at her all at once.

"Time Sign **Private Square** !!"

The world around her turns into monochrome grey, Komachis stop in midair, and the dust particles suspend in the air. The sky has become grey in color.

All except herself, which somehow Sakuya can see herself in full color.

With the brief time stop, Sakuya limps in pain out of the death trap the Komachi swarm has set up. She looks back and she can see the Komachi's leaping in midair at where Sakuya was standing, some even leaping to the height of her face intending to strike her head.

She can see a small stream of blood from her cuts suspend in mid air, the only thing besides herself that still maintains its color. The ground where she once stood was also colored red from her spilt blood.

The sight of her blood among the grey "world" makes her aware of her mortality and the damage she is taking.

"Ohh…I've lost quite a lot of blood." Sakuya mutters, feeling faint and her breathing erratic.

The pain in her injuries sting unbearably. Komachi's scythes are so sharp that Sakuya's skin and clothes simply part with the slightest touch.

With so much pain and blood loss, Sakuya knows she cannot hold the spell for long, before exhaustion took her.

The grey "world" around her seems to slowly fade back into color, showing the she cannot hold the spell longer.

As a last effort, she uses her knife, and position it aiming at the backs of the Komachis which are facing inwards to the circle.  
When a knife has been positioned for each Komachi, the "World" finally restores its full color, and time resumes.

Surprisingly, most of the Komachis simply twist around, and deflect the knives again with their scythes. Some knives manage to stab into several doll's back, but it didn't take them down, with a knife on their back, they simply turn around to face Sakuya.

In just a second, the Komachis immediately dash towards Sakuya and resume their previous strategy, surrounding Sakuya and trapping her, slowly killing her.

_Oooh….I can't use another spell card…I'm too tired._ Sakuya thought to herself, and contorts in pain as she feels another cut.

Damn it. While I'm sure the rest of them would have made it, I've put myself in an inescapable situation foolishly.

As she hears another distant voice "Attack!" her last thought is: _I'm sorry mistress._

* * *

Marisa chuckles to herself, as she sees Sakuya fruitlessly fend off the attack from the Komachi swarm.

_Sakuya clearly wanted to buy "time" for the rest of the group to escape.  
So, if I cannot get to the rest and get what I want, I shall increase the price!_

Knowing first hand that the Komachis were able to handle Sakuya's knives, Marisa intended to trap Sakuya, and weaken her as soon as possible.

_By swarming around Sakuya, it closes any means of retreating with the exception of her spellcards. And by using her spellcards, it will take out a huge strain in her stamina. She will not be able run very far during time stop with that sort of exhaustion._ Thought Marisa with a satisfied smile.

"Huh? Whats that?" Marisa hears a voice from a distance.

She was too absorbed into observing the fight, that she didn't notice Koakuma's army approach at full speed towards Sakuya and the Komachis.

"Attack!" Koakuma shouts.

* * *

The Komachi army stops their attack and turns to face the incoming army.

A swarm of knives descend upon them in the open.

* * *

Sakuya looks around in surprise as a volley of knives rain down around her.  
The knives did not even fall on her, simply around her. A testament to the skills of the Sakuya dolls.

As the Komachis try to deflect the raining knives, blurs of green crash into them at full speed.

The two armies engage.

It took a second for Sakuya to register that it is time to make a run for it.

* * *

"Sakuya! You're hurt!" Koakuma exclaims as Sakuya approaches in a tired run.

"Come on! Lets get out of here while we can!" Sakuya says.

"You're badly hurt, and you can't run that fast. I'll carry you!"

"Wha? There's no need for- oof!" Sakuya is cut off as Koakuma suddenly sweeps her up from her feet, and runs quickly towards the mansion, with Sakuya in her arms.  
Koakuma being a demon has more physical strength than an ordinary human, which matches a Youkai.  
But not as strong as Meiling in the least.

Sakuya merely blushes in embarrassment, before looking behind at the battle between the Komachis and Koakuma's faithful army.

"Koakuma…"

"Yes Sakuya?"

"I don't recall one of us thanking you yet. So…thanks…for saving me. For saving all of us."

"Hmm…..then you can consider your time 'debt' repaid, eh?" Koakuma grins joyfully "and I can't really take all the credit. You showed professional management of the maids back there."

"Of course" Sakuya smiles, then looks back at the battle and says "do you think your army can survive the battle?"

Koakuma's expression darkens at the thought of the fate of her army. The decision to sacrifice the doll army to rescue Sakuya should be a logical and plausible solution.  
But there still remains a slight tinge of guilt…

_But what are several doll's lives compared to my friend's? They ARE just dolls…right?_ Thought Koakuma.

"I don't think they'll be coming back to us…..for now, I've just bought us more time. I really hope Patchouli has some reinforcements ready…"

* * *

It is clear which is more powerful. Even with the combination attack of the Sakuya's knives, and Meiling's melee attack, the Komachis are lethally armed which gives them a big edge in the battle.

Sakuya dolls, from a distance, use their knives to distract them, and slow their movement. The Meiling dolls take advantage of this and engage the Komachis, with little success. The Meilings can only manage to make their opponent fall down, but the Komachis simply get back up again, and resume fighting.

The Meilings are outpowered.

The Komachis will eventually score a deadly hit, disemboweling the Meilings with their razor sharp scythes, and start to attack the remaining Sakuya dolls.

The battle is over within two minutes.

Koakuma's army is destroyed.

* * *

"Smart girl…" Marisa mutters to herself with a frown as she watches Koakuma carry Sakuya well away from the battle and nearing the Mansion's gates.

"Oh well…I suppose that's the end of Koakuma's army…Let's proceed with the invasion!" Marisa exclaims to herself, with some satisfaction that Koakuma's irritating army is annihilated.

Marisa and the Komachi army make their way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

* * *

Patchouli and Meiling are waiting at the gates when Koakuma finally arrives.

"Meiling, shut the gates" Patchouli orders as Koakuma enter through the thick wooden gates.  
Meiling then pull the gates shut, and places iron bars on the locks, sealing the gates from the inside.

As Remilia comes out of the mansion through the entrance, Koakuma drops Sakuya to let her stand, saving her from further embarrassment in front of Mistress Remilia.

"Koakuma! That was very impressive! Well done!" Remilia congratulates Koakuma.

"Yes. Good job Koakuma. You did exceedingly well." Patchouli says proudly.

"But…the doll army is destroyed! And Marisa still has her army! She will arrive here any minute now. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop her, there was simply too many of them."

"Exactly, Koakuma. You just defended against a formidable army with just a small force. And with the time you bought us, I was able to fully set up the Mansion's defenses. Look around." Patchouli gestures at the top of the Mansion's tall walls.

Koakuma didn't notice it before as she came into the Mansion.

Hundreds of dolls line up on the front walls.

She can recognize some of the nine-tailed dolls from before, among other numerous dolls.  
The majority of the dolls is of one kind and seems to stand out to her. Dressed in a black shirt, purple skirt and a red tie, the doll has long purple hair, and on top of its head looked like long rabbit ears.  
The weapon it is holding is the most peculiar thing. Each seems to be holding a long tubular object.

_I wonder what it is…_

Another group of dolls catch her attention. It is a small group of dolls that are floating in midair. Dolls of Patchouli herself.

"Those are flying dolls!" Koakuma comments.

"Yes, we have our own flying squadron this time. Now…let's watch the massacre." Patchouli says.

_Massacre…_Koakuma didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea.

* * *

End chapter 11

Authors Notes: Real time progress can be found in Maidens of the Kaleidoscope website, at the Fanworks section.

Please review for the author's motivation!!


End file.
